But Vegas?
by planet p
Summary: AU; before the wedding, Che Ling and Lyle have a talk. **There's a kind of long Author's Note at the end, in case anyone felt like sharing any of their insights about anything, it would really be great.**


**But Vegas?** by planet p

**Disclaimer** I don't own _the Pretender_ or any of its characters.

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Che Ling pulled a face at this suggestion. Now who was going to buy that one? "Vegas?" she echoed. A person did not just arrange to marry someone they'd never met and then decide, hey, let's just get married in Vegas, who've we got to invite anyway who won't be expecting expensive this and expensive that? She shook her head, really trying hard to see this logic and failing miserably. "Vegas?" she repeated.

"A whole load of people go to Las Vegas to get married, all the time."

"You think they're actually going to follow up on that, Bobby? Ooo, who was invited and whatnot?"

"Yes. I would."

"You don't count; you're strange. I'm talking about normal people here, people with lives and bosses who don't want to give them the time of day because they don't trust them and think they'll blow the money that's meant for the job on whatever or that they'll slack off on the job and just have fun."

"The authorities?"

Che Ling rolled her eyes. "Who else did you think I was talking about, Bobby? Jesus, where did you grow up?"

"If someone dies?" he pressed.

"People die all the time," she reminded him in exasperation.

"Wouldn't the consulate, I don't know, get annoyed if they didn't take it seriously?"

"Whoop-dee-doo! Maybe they will, but what are they gonna do about it?"

"They have connections."

"Yeah, uh-huh..." She shook her head. "Fine, we'll get married in frickin' Vegas, but there is so gonna be liquor. I want a white wedding dress, and what do I get – No, you can't do that, you're supposed to be Japanese! Newsflash, I _am_ Japanese, Borgman, that doesn't mean I don't think white wedding dresses are cute overload!" She put her hands over her face for a moment before lowering them again. She refrained from making comment on the name, either. Che Ling? Hey, no, that wasn't sus at all, people! Che? "So, why aren't you with anyone?"

"Me?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "No, Bobby, the fairies!"

"The..."

"No, no. No. I'm joking! No sweat, sugar, you're not the only one. Do I look like I've hooked up in forever? Make that a big, fat, stinkin' _No!_ Is it just us? Is it some shitty Empath thing?"

"I..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"There ain't no such thing as nothin', Bobby! Everythin' is somethin'. In the words of... well, heck, I don't know who: sharin' is carin'."

He laughed. "You're not going to talk like that at the wedding, are you?"

"No, I ain't; quit buggin' on me about my manner and tell me about her, already! I assume it was a her?"

He rolled his eyes. "There isn't anything to tell, Ki, she's dead."

"How come?"

"'How come'? Why do you think 'how come'?"

"I don't read minds, you might recall."

"They said I had to, so I had to, alright," he replied, looking at the wall instead of her.

"Are you fuckin' kidding? No shit, you actually killed someone?"

"Come on, where have you been living, Ki? I've killed loads of people before, directly or indirectly, what's the difference anyway, they're still dead..."

"There is a difference. So why's it that this the first I'm hearin' of this shit, B?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, tough shit, I do."

"Good for you."

"B, don't pull this shit with me! Sure, anyone else, I couldn't care less one single iota, but not with _me_! You're like my brother, Bobby. So spill."

"Make me," he muttered, and got to his feet to walk out.

"When you feel like talkin', you know where I am, kiddo," she called after him, feeling a bit put out. So much for Empath camaraderie. "The next time I get married, I am definitely havin' a white dress," she sighed to herself.

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Author's Note: I just think it's kinda lame; wouldn't Che Ling think it's kinda cheap, getting married in Las Vegas? She didn't come how ever long a distance across the world just to get married in Vegas, surely. Any girl's gonna think, Are you kidding me? So what they don't really know each other, is that a reason not to try, I don't reckon so. I mean, if you're getting married, it's a two-way street. Not that I see the imperative to get married, mind you, especially to someone he didn't know. Because he thought, I need someone to boss around one minute, and act all caring husband with the next? Like that won't scream, Mental health issues, buster! Get help! And like he'd just get mad and smack her around so she ends up dead; what, then, would be the point of getting married anyway, especially if he knew he wasn't all that great in relationships and didn't trust himself not to be abusive. I don't care how mental a person is, that just seems off, to me. I know, people are like that in real life, but he did go to all the trouble to get a mail-order bride from overseas and whatnot, why throw all of that effort away just like that? What, it was because he wanted to get in some little mental people's club; well, that's cheap! Why ever, it still doesn't make sense to me...

And, the whole thing with Jimmy, not making a lot of sense, either. If they're allowed to go off to go hiking, why not just ditch their parents and leave to make their own way in the world, especially seeing as they're supposed to have both had fathers who were physically abusive; you think they'd make up a plan or something. Kids will do these things, one finds. Make up plans for the future that might or might not go the way they planned, but they'll make them all the same, something to hope for. So why didn't Bobby and Jimmy ever do that? Especially seeing as how Bobby's supposed to have been clever (a Pretender), then you'd think he wouldn't buy into the abuse maybe the same way as Jimmy, as it being the only thing in his life that reflected anything; you'd think he'd be the one wanting to stick up for Jimmy (Jarod always wants to stick up for other people, despite the horrible stuff he's been through). And it seems to me that it's... I wouldn't say easier, but you just feel more of an imperative to stick up for those that you care about when they're hurting than you might for yourself. You might think, if it's just me, I can handle it more because I've been through it before, but with someone else you'd just be feeling like dying if someone ever hurt them because you can only help them if they let you in to help them, so you'd want to stop them getting hurt in the first place, and you'd be especially protective because you had someone who actually cared for you and allowed you to care for them back without the constant rubbish, for instance, that Bobby would have got from his dad. Even if he wanted to care about him, like he'd ever be able to say, I don't think your behaviour is doing any of us any good, you, me, mum, none of us, so maybe we can work out how to work around it. Yeah, no, I don't think so.

If he'd ever confided in anyone, I reckon it would have been his best friend, Jimmy.

Okay, so enough rambling out of me, I haven't even seen this show in yonks... If you have any thoughts on the matter, I'd love to hear from you. (Stuff like that, I have to have good reasons... I used to be really pedantic, once... now it's mostly, Where are the reasons? Not so much with the spelling and grammar. :-( Lame, I know.)


End file.
